


Topsy turvy

by SwedishFanFictionLover



Series: Oceans apart yet close to heart [2]
Category: BLACKPINK (Band), Mamamoo, Monsta X (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alpha Kim Namjoon | RM, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Imprinting, Angst, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Imprinting, Lalisa needs a hug, Love affairs, M/M, Mermaids, Romance, Scars, Smut, Werecats, Werefelines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-10 08:14:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17422211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwedishFanFictionLover/pseuds/SwedishFanFictionLover
Summary: Lalisa was in a topsy turvy because of one man and one man alone, Namjoon Kim and she didn't know whether it was a good thing or bad thing.





	1. Hello

👌

  


I sat up on the couch, rubbing my face as if it could get the nightmares out of my head. Sometimes I just wished I could open up my head, pick out the bad memories then I could go through sleeping one night. It had gotten worse as the king of this pride were to return, despite I had heard only good things about the man he was still a king and I had no fond memories of kings. Just thinking about meeting him made my chest tighten a little, paranoia that he would be just like Roseanne’s father enough to send me into panic but I told myself that it wouldn’t be like that. That this high praised king would be different, I knew so yet the fear was still there and would be until I met him and could see for myself what kind of person the king was.

  


I heard hushed laughter and then a door opening as well as closing. Then there was footsteps. I pretended to yawn, I stretched on the sofa until my joints popped, it wasn’t like my bed back home nor was it the floor so I was satisfied. If having a slightly sore body for the first hours of the day until I had loosened up my body enough rather than being at home with a drunk asshole who would hit before giving a reason as to why he did it, then it was worth it.

  


It had been weeks since me and Roseanne left the kingdom behind for a life on land, it felt good that I could finally breathe again and it took getting used to that I didn’t need to keep an eye behind me or be wary of walls, seeing as even if you could chose to have a telepathic conversation to one person alone, if someone had strong enough magic they could silently tap into conversations without notifying the victims. It had happened more than I’d like to admit but we had learned to speak in codes if we absolutely had to say something or wore jewelry that had a protection charm against such matters. Honestly that night as I had spoken to Roseanne, of our escape, it had been a risk but seeing as we were still here in the pride it was suffice to assume we were safe.

  
  


“Oh, you’re awake? Good morning!” Yongsun greeted with a warm smile, the older mermaid reminding me a little of Jisoo in her warm, motherly manners and it caused my heart to ache whenever I thought about the two we had left behind.

“Mornin’, you aren’t usually up this early?” I had observed that both she and her mate Wonho liked to sleep in whenever they could, especially seeing as Yongsun was up during the nights because of her pregnancy for various of reasons which in turn woke her mate.

“The little ones was craving carrots with nutella.” She rested her hands on her big belly, giving me a grateful smile as I pulled my legs to me, holding out a hand to help her sit down in the vacated space on the couch. “Thank you.” She got really happy when I also shared my blanket with her, stroking her tummy through it. “But we had no carrots so Wonho went to the gardens to sneak a few.” I aah:ed as it explained the door thing. “Did we wake you? I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s cool, I’m a light sleeper.” I shrugged and subconsciously rubbed at my wrist where there was only a feeding bruise left from the punishment I had gotten as it had been discovered I had enabled Roseanne in going to the land above.

  


Only for it to be followed up by my own father’s, which I did fight back against but he still landed enough on me. If not for Jisoo’s salves my body would show more of what he had done, now there was only a pale reminder on my wrist and my lower back. He had lost half of his tail to vile hunters who either wanted us for our tails, the scales in particular or to sell us of as slaves. To find out his own flesh and blood had gone up on land, dancing with humans despite what a few of their kind had done to him in addition to our family secret had him seeing red.

  


It hadn’t been the first time he had hit me, I missed the years when he didn’t hit me, when he was always near the bottom of every bottle and barely acknowledging my presence except for making sure there was enough food for both of us. He was a functioning drunk if there was such a thing, he did his work and during his off hours he was in a continuous state of inebriation. He hadn’t always been like that. I had good memories of him, he had been a good and loving father until I entered my teens, that’s when he began to drink then he surely but surely acted as if I didn’t exist which had hurt me but as he picked up drinking added to it I blamed it on the alcohol and adjusted to the new normal.

  


I never had a mom, my mom had left us after I had been born so I never knew nor did I know the reason she had left us in the first place. That is until a year back when I discovered hidden paintings off of her, startled at how much I resembled her and begun to investigate about her. Dad, drunk off his ass, had hit me when I had asked about her. It was the first time he had ever struck me, it scared me off for awhile but I kept investigating until I worked up the courage to ask him again. Prepared for the hits I had overpowered him with ease, made him tell me.

  


I had been shocked to find that mom, like me, loved to dance above land and felt a connection to the woman I had never met as she like me had snuck above to dance to her heart’s content. Their marriage had been an arranged one, a loveless one at that and I had been the product of duty. Dad let her go up to land to dance until she was too pregnant to do so, unbeknownst to him she didn’t only go up to dance but to meet with her human lover.

  


He had only found out about all of it from the letter she had left behind for us, where she told him everything about it and I had been beyond furious, hurt to discover she had written a letter for me as well. I had read the letter, it was my most prized possession and my dad had often hit me for keeping it and hiding it from him. It was why I had turned into a light sleeper, always prepared if he tried to sneak into my room to search through it or to surprise me with an attack, trying to make me tell him where it was and what it said as my mom had put a charm on it so only one of her blood could read it.

  


The first two times I had suffered from the hits, the third time I had been prepared for it. During the mornings, when he had sobered up enough he would cry and plead for forgiveness, promising he would stop drinking and be better. Which worked for periods before he had a relapse. I was so used to it and as much as I wouldn’t mind Jennie using her sirén magic to have him disappear, I had to keep up appearances for the other families of the army and the king as to not raise any unwanted attention to us, or rather me as I didn’t only go up to the surface to dance but to only search for my mom. Something no one, not even Roseanne, knew about and I had been so close to finally figuring out where she, her human husband had moved to when the emergency call had sounded and hell broke close upon my and Roseanne’s return.

  


Now, finally safe and free to do what I wanted I took the opportunity of resting before I decided what to do and where to go next, all I knew was that I wouldn’t stay within this pride forever and that when I got a good idea on what to do I would pack my small belongings and leave knowing Roseanne was safe and well.

  
  


“You’re the opposite of me and Wonho then, though with all my cravings and more pressing needs to relieve myself we have become pretty good at waking up and functioning somewhat during the night. Soon, two others will keep us up on our feet.” She patted her tummy, her soft voice breaking me out of memory lane and I smiled at her. I loved children, always had but I was especially weak for babies. Noticing my look she took my hand and guided it under the blanket until I could feel something hit my hand softly but noticeably.

“Wow, I wonder if it’s a tail or a foot.” I said in awe, apart from Jennie I had never known an half-breed before or met a mermaid who carried one. The older mermaid and her mate was excited for their twins though, over two weeks I had lived with them I had been made judge as they practiced every now and then what they were to do if her water broke. The last time we had done a drill Wonho had forgotten to actually bring Yongsun with him to the healer hut, Minhyuk, Taehyun and I had not been able to stop laughing even as Wonho had shuffled back with a face set in shame as Yongsun had tapped her foot with narrowed eyes.

“Not a clue but Jooheon and Wheein has assured us that the twins are in good health and we should not worry. But I am officially put to bedrest, not that I will abide to it when we have a party today.” She whooped but winced just as I felt a particular hard hit to my hand. “You could tone down your enthusiasm though.” She chastised the babies within her womb, making me laugh and she joined in.

  


👌

  


“Rough night?” I looked from the last decoration I had been in charge of putting up, following Minhyuk’s gaze and saw Roseanne walking into the communal dining hall a bit sluggish with Jimin right beside her with an arm around her waist. Roseanne blushed bright red at the question, there was a pregnant silence in the room which broke as I squealed and skipped right over to the couple.

“Congratulations!” I jumped at her, jumping up and down enough for both of us as she just responded with a hug. Soon enough the others joined with congratulating the mated couple but only I was shameless enough to move her hair so I could watch the rumored mating bark which I had only seen briefly on the mated pairs necks. It was a round mark of teeth but there were two deeper punctures, most likely from his fangs but it wasn’t an irritated red or looking like a nasty bruise as I had feared but silvery, like a tattoo almost. “Wow, that’s so cool.”

“Thanks.” Jimin practically purred, obviously happy and preened at the compliments and congratulations. Though he had Taehyung in a headlock after a good natured, pervy tease had caused my best friend to hide her face with a squeak to my shoulder.

“Though, as my privilege and duty as her best friend let me just say.” I smiled sweetly, having practiced on this particular smile with Jennie a dozen of times whenever I had begrudgingly had to deal with interrogation. It was sweet enough that it made me look completely harmless but cold enough that it hinted at the danger lurking behind it. “If you deliberately hurt her in any way, I will rip of our tail and shove it down your throat, ‘kay?” All of those with a tail gulped, staring at me in utter shock and a little fear.

“Lalisa!” Roseanne protested but I didn’t break my gaze with Jimin who was the only one who didn’t look remotely surprised, probably having heard enough about me from Roseanne as well as getting to know me enough to know that my threat was well-meaning.

“Fair enough.” He smiled, eyes turning into crescents and laughed when some  of the guys looked at him as if he had gone insane. “What?” He laughed, releasing Taehyung.

“You’re insane.” Changkyun murmured before walking off, the others proceeding to do the same and get back to what they were doing.

“Pussies.” He snorted, leaning in to give Roseanne a kiss and nuzzled her nose before saluting me. “See you later.” He waved Wonho to him then they walked out of the room, presumably to check over some last things with the rest who was on guard duty.

 _“How about you help me out with the decorations before you make the ice sculptures?”_ She nodded. With an arm slung over her shoulders we went back to the table, up the chairs then hung up decorations for the chandeliers which consisted of strings with mermaid tears attached to them. When she least expected it, opened up our telepathic link. _“So, for scientific reasons of course, just how big is he?”_ Which ended up with her telling me off in various sea creature languages which had me doubled over in laughter.

  


👌

  
  


“Okay, but there’s really one, okay, two questions I am curious about.” Me, Taehyung, Minhyuk, Hwasa and Changkyun were chilling outside as we waited for the guests to arrive. I had my back to it all, sometimes looking inside the open door to see everyone fret around with last minute changes. I had to admit, it was highly amusing to see a big alpha as Shownu being bossed around by a very, pregnant mermaid who was on the verge of crying when something wasn’t just right for her pregnancy induced brain. “What do you do when you pee and your other business underwater?” Hwasa positively gagged while Minhyuk and Changkyun complained loudly about Taehyung's question which I could only laugh at. “What!? I’ve always been curious but I never dared to ask Yongsun noona!”

“Why? Because she’s a lady and I’m not?” I asked swiftly.

“Yes.” He answered immediately like I had hoped, realizing the off-hand insult he just did and I milked for what it was with an really offended look. “N-No, wait, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“We all heard you, Tae.” Minhyuk joined in on it, shaking his head to show his disappointment.

“That was so cold, hyung.” Changkyun rubbed my back as I pretended to lower my head and cry, when I really was laughing.

“I thought you were more of a gentleman, looks can be deceiving after all.” Hwasa sneered and Taehyung tried to appease everyone and anyone that he didn’t mean anything bad about it. I finally decided to blew my cover after he tried to, and unsuccessfully so, find something good to say and I raised my head to show him I was laughing.

“Psyched!” I yelled, seeing the moment he realized he had been played as the others joined in on the laughter too and he hissed at me.

“Lalisa!” He tried to get hold of my and I stepped away from him, seeing he was about to chase me and as such turned around quickly.

“If you can’t catch me you’re a clam!” I yelled and only got a few steps ahead before I hit a wall and would’ve fallen backwards if not for an arm shooting out and pulling me in close. Wait, when did walls have arms? “Huh? You’re not a wall.” The man froze, he was completely still as his gold eyes met mine and I blinked. “Dude, you okay?” He said nothing, it was kind of creepy and worrying. “Eh, hello? Do you speak… What is this language called by the way? I just copied it.” I looked back to the guys and Hwasa who was just as petrified as the man but at my question Changkyun choked on nothing.

“You just copied the korean language!? How!?” He asked and I was about to answer when Hyungwon came out from the front door, upon seeing the men in front of me he bared his neck.

“Welcome back, your highness.” He drawled lazily.

“Who?” I asked, looking back at the man before me but the one right in front of me in particular. He was very tall, much taller than me with sharp eyes and longer bangs but shaved side on his head. But his cheeks, lips looked softer. It was a nice contrast. “You?” I squeaked out as I heard more than saw the others follow Hyungwon’s action. The ones behind the man I had run into bowed to us while the one in front of me stood tall, letting me know the answer and there had only been a handful of times I had been this scared this fast. “O-Oh Poseidon, I am so sorry your highness for my insolence, please spare me.” I immediately dropped to the floor, forehead and hands pressed against it as I showed respect but I couldn’t stop but curl in a little to myself, fear making me tremble as various punishments for what I had done went through my mind. Would he whip me? Or would he rather burn me or take of a few of my scales?

“Lalisa?” Hwasa exclaimed and I heard someone call for Roseanne in the background but I didn’t move or let out a single syllable. Knowing what it would cost me, you only did that mistake once.

“Namjoon.” A voice said, I heard some rustling then there was a touch to my back which made me let out a yelp of fear and it took me a long moment to realize there was no sting or ounce of pain following the touch.

“Raise your head, sit up, I will not hurt you as you have done nothing wrong.” I didn’t dare to believe it, fearing it might be a trap. “Lalisa, please, you don’t have to be scared.” The voice tied again, I liked the voice, it was deep yet soft. I liked how it sounded as he said my name but it was the please that hesitantly made me look at him. The kings I was used to never said please, ever, at least not the bad ones. The man had bent the knee, eyebrows furrowed in concern and swallowed thickly as I looked at him. “Lalisa, is that your name?”

“Y-Yes, your highness.” I answered quietly, not wanting to break how kind he was in case I spoke out of turn.

“Please don’t call me that, Hyungwon only calls me that because he’s a brat.” He sighed, giving the lanky man an annoyed glare which I presumed he just gave a dull look as a response, Hyungwon was not easily intimidated I had learned during my stay. “I am the king of this pride but unless in the presence of other leaders or members of other groups than ours, I wish to be addressed as Namjoon.” I shook my head at that, it was unthinkable. I could feel a panic attack coming on, it terrified me and I wanted it to stop but it came rapidly as he was already not like other royalties I had met, apart from Roseanne, which only made me think about the last time I had been in the presence of one and what happened.  “L-”

“Lalisa!” I hesitantly looked away from Namjoon, breathing erratic as Roseanne went down on her knees beside me and with one look she recognised what was going on. “Let’s go to my home, come on.” I clung to her, focusing on my breathing and tried to ignore how the world was spinning, my skin clammy with cold sweat as flashbacks came all at once. “I’m sorry your highness.” She bowed to the man who had stood up before she ushered me to walk along with her.

  


As we walked, I risked one glance back to see various worried and confused gazes but the cautious look of the feline king stuck with me even as I passed out on Roseanne’s bed.

  


👌

  


“Please tell me you had changed the sheets before you put me here.” Roseanne flushed red but rolled her eyes.

“No, of course I didn’t, why would I do that?” Jimin snorted in amusement as he gathered clothes from his drawer.

“I’ll leave you girls to talk and I will turn on the shower extra loud so even my hearing can’t pick it up. That is, if you want to use human talk?” He looked at us, kind and I was glad he was Roseanne’s mate.

“You’re just saying that to be polite, you’ll still hear us.” I pointed out, grinning as he put a hand to his heart and pretended to have been struck.

“Ugh, you exposed me.” He whined making me snicker while Roseanne smiled.

“We’ll be fine, go and shower.” Jimin dropped the act, looking at us sharply for a moment and his tail moving slowly before he nodded.

“‘kay, if you say so.” He ruffled my hair, laughing as I slapped at his hand and kissed Roseanne softly before darting out of the room, closing the door behind him to give us a sense of privacy which I respected.

“So, on a scale from 1 to me invoking the wrath of a family of octopuses and dripping ink all the way home, how bad was it yesterday?” Rosanne gave a look. “Listen, if I can’t joke about it, then it’s really bad.” I tried to laugh it off, wanting to forget it ever happened honestly but if Jennie had been here she would’ve told me to suck it up and put on the big mermaid shells while Jisoo would’ve said that yesterday wasn’t anyone’s fault nor should I feel bad about it. But I did. It was embarrassing too. First time meeting their highly appraised king, leader of their pride, and I go into a panic attack. Yeah, that sounded really bad. Damn it.

“You can joke but… That won’t solve it.” Roseanne said carefully, playing with her long skirt as she did. “It’s… Even hearing from Yongsun, we both already knew my father was a very harsh ruler. What he did to you and what happened afterwards… You reacted accordingly based on what you knew and had experienced, there’s no one to blame for it than those who installed those negative feelings regarding royalties to you.”

“... You sound like Jisoo and Jennie at the same time… It is scary, stop.” She rolled her eyes at me but didn’t verbally comment on it.

“I just…  I think you should give him a chance, everyone deserves at least one chance and you don’t have to talk to him any time soon but… You know… Think about it?” I thought about it, sighing as I gave her a reluctant nod. “You… You never told me how he punished you… Maybe… If you tell me about it, I can help… I-I-If you want that is! No pressure!” I looked at her, considering it greatly. She was my best friend, she knew me better than anyone else but I had one secret from her… If I told her about her father’s punishment I would tell her about my mother too…

“There’s… There’s something I haven’t told you… But not because I didn’t trust you, rather… I didn’t know how and honestly I still don’t know how to feel about it and everything just sucks, it fuckings sucks...” I didn’t know I was crying until I had to break off my rant to take a shuddering breath and when she put her forehead to mind, a form of affection in the mermaid community I broke apart and let her caught me.

  


I told her everything about my mom’s letter, the real reason I had gone even more often up on land and about how things with my father was worse than I let on. I told her everything, I even told her about her father had strapped my wrists to the ground before electrocuting me with his magic which had left a nasty burn mark along my shoulder blades. Then as I had returned home, barely conscious my father had caught me off-guard and landed good hits, both with his crippled tail, his scarred fists and whatever he could get his hands on.

  


I had managed to caught him off guard and fought back, refusing to let him break me apart and only when he was unconscious on the floor of our living room, having been so for ten minutes, I left for my room and made sure to close it with the magical charms. Only in my lonesome, with the help of a mirror and a soft sponge, I cried as I used Jisoo’s salve on the worst bruises and cuts. I even showed her the remains of it but the scar from the electrocuting remained.

  


“Now… You know everything...” I said softly, sniffling and looked over at Roseanne who cried in silence. “Hey, don’t cry or you’ll make me cry even more...” I pulled her in to me, cradling her to my as he tinier body wrecked from her sobs.

“It’s just… That’s so horrible and my father did that to you? I thought I hated him before but this...” She gestured to my back. “To think he could do such a thing is sickening!”

“Not going to argue on that one...”  I mumbled, sputtering in surprise as she grabbed my face.

“But don’t even think you’re weak or ugly for one second! Okay!? You are more of a merperson than they’ll ever be and I hope that they will drown in the river of Acheron!” It wasn’t often Roseanne lost her temper or cursed someone to damnation, it touched my heart.

“Don’t make me cry again.” She smiled, we both took a moment to dry our tears and the silence that enveloped us wasn’t uncomfortable.

“Also, about your mother, me and Jimin will help you out.” She paused, unsure. “That is, if you want? I just figured Jimin might know people of the land who maybe knows her...”

“Thanks but… It’s something I need to do on my own but it’s nice knowing you have my back.”

“Always.” She vowed, putting her forehead against mine and we sat like that until Jimin came knocking on the door and the moment was broken but not forgotten.

  


That night I slept on their couch, for once not having a nightmare waking me up but instead a pair of golden eyes watched me from the shadows but with not ill-intent, rather protective and I liked their gaze on me as I danced on the dance floor until I woke up by the smell of food, a smile rather than a grimace on my face for the first time in a long time.

  


👌

  


_Okay, I can do this, he isn’t like the douche king back home, come on._ Yet I didn’t move just yet, observing him for a moment longer as I gathered up the courage to actually go up to him and apologize for last time.

  


Ever since my talk with Roseanne I had indeed thought about talking to the tall king of the pride, just, I hadn’t actually done the actual talking to him part yet but I was getting there! Each day since my talk with Roseanne, I had observed Namjoon from a great distance which had lessened and lessened until today when I was just a few meters away from him, hiding behind a tree as he lied on a grassy meadow reading a book. He did that a lot, reading, I had noticed from my observations. He wrote a lot in a leather bound book, keeping it on his person at all times and wrote in it at the most random of times.

  


He also didn’t raise his hand or any weapons against his pride members, arguments occurred but he as well as Shownu rarely raised their voices. Instead they used signals or simply waited until the upset parties had ran out of stream and could have a more level headed conversation. He listened and interacted with everyone, seeming genuinely interested and the smile or laughter he would share didn’t seem fake. All in all, he had proven my assumptions and initial fears wrong and I was ready to actually interact with him. Kind of. It was hard taking that one step.

  


_Come on, I have seen for myself that he’s not that bad, stop being such a fish!_ I turned away from my hiding spot, walking with purpose only to stop after a few steps because he was gone. _Huh? But he was just th-_

  


“It’s not polite to sneak up on people, or stalk them for that matter.” With  shriek I turned around, looking up at eyes of gold, a silvery eyebrow raised. _Shit!_

  


👌


	2. Getting closer

👌

  
  


“Are you done with that now?” I swallowed, nervous because even if he evidently wasn’t like I first thought he was, the man was still a bit intimidating with his height, sharp eyes and measured words. My heart fluttered a little but I mentally shrugged it off as my nerves and realized he was waiting for an answer.

“Y-Yes?” His other eyebrow raised as well and I swallowed, squaring up my shoulders. “Yes, I am.” His lip quirked into a half-smile, a dimple popping out and the intimidating facade broke ever so slightly but enough for me to actually talk. “Sorry about that but I just… I just wanted to see what kind of king you are, because the last one I had was not one to be recommended, your highness.” I explained, feeling a bit awkward because I didn’t know whether I could treat him the way I treated the others, just like they treated him unless it was important matters, or if I should treat him like the king he was?

“I see, and do you like what you have observed?” Despite myself I flushed at the question, a certain twinkle in his eye and I promptly decided to treat him in a mix of the ways. 

“Sure, the only problem I could see between the two of us is that you’re reading far too much, your highness.” I teased, praising myself internally for actually being able to do it and by the pleasantly surprised look on his face I knew it had been the right way. 

“I’m reading too much?” He asked, bewildered and looking so confused, any fears or worries I had left evaporated in that instance and I allowed myself to think that this man was actually a bit cute. 

“Yeah, if you aren’t talking to someone your nose is always in a book. Oh! And you write a lot too, sometimes after having reading a book, why is that? If you don’t mind me asking, your highness.” I put my hands behind my back, feeling no need to keep them ready to defend myself and relaxed my stance. He blinked, twice before he rubbed his neck and laughed softly. 

“Eh, I’m reading various philosophy books about how one can view the world around them and whenever I get inspired I write poems or write down my on thoughts regarding something the book’s subject on the matter.” I tilted my head, a bit confused and couldn’t help but ask.

“Why do you need a book to tell you on how to view your surroundings? I mean, isn’t better if you actually look at them yourself and make your own assessment off of it, question how and why you saw it like that? How can you view the world around you if you aren’t even looking at it?” For a moment, a small fear that I had overstepped invisible boundaries slithered it’s chilling way into my spine, the mark around my shoulders positively burning in an reminder but as I looked at him he just looked shell shocked. I frowned.  _ Was my question that weird?  _ “Your highness?” He opened his mouth a few times, seemingly lost for words which made me smile a little as he looked like a fish, a cute one at that.  _ Stop it! You can’t think of him as cute! _ Yet I did but before I could ponder on it any longer there were sounds of rustling, then a big, yet smaller than the others I had seen in this pride, white feline with black markings leaped out of the greenery and started talking in it’s feline language to the king who almost distractedly listened to him as he kept giving me glances. 

“W-Wait, what did you just say?” He finally looked fully at the feline who seemed annoyed by his behaviour but answered all the same. “Yongsun is giving birth?”

“She is!?” With a squee I ran ahead of them to the gates which Hoseok opened the minute he saw me so I could run through. I ran through the grounds to the elevator, making it take my up and I was quick on my feet to the healers hut where a lot of the pack members waited. “Any news?” Just as I asked there was a sound of female wailing with an answered roar from, who I assumed, was Wonho. “Whoa...”

“Not yet, her water broke this morning but it seems that she have dilated enough for her to push.” Jooheon mumbled, leaning back into his mate Seokjin’s arms who brushed a kiss along the man’s ear. 

  
  


Wheein and Jooheon were the healers of the pack, but only out of necessity as neither of them was trained healers and had to make do with the few books of healing they had. But it was established that if the females were going to give birth, Wheein would handle it while he would handle the birthing if the males were the carriers. I didn’t see Moonbyul anywhere, the one who actually had medical training as she was a human nurse which sometimes didn’t correspond correctly to the procedures one would use for supernatural patients, so I assumed she was in there assisting Wheein. I spotted Roseanne and Jimin by the farther sidelines, making my way over to them and sat down beside them seeing as Roseanne was in Jimin’s lap.

  
  


“So, did you finally do it?” Jimin asked seeing as Roseanne’s full attention was on the healer’s house. 

“Yeah, it was… Nice, he was nice...” I glowered as Jimin gave me a smug grin. “Don’t.” I warned but of course the feline just had to.

“Told you so.” Laughing when I groaned and leaned back into the wall of the bridge, the sounds of Yongsun’s screams, the first wails of the babies and Roseanne’s excited mumbling with Jimin becoming background noise as I thought back to the shocked king and felt a smile growing on my face. 

  
  


👌

  
  


“Aren’t you just precious? Yes, yes you are.” I cooed to the baby in my arms, finger carefully tracing along it’s face. 

  
  


They had the same feline features as Wonho and his lips but we had all discovered that the babies lower halves turned into a mermaid tail if they were in the water. Under careful observations the parents were relieved that despite keeping their feline features on their upper halves, their lungs became that of a mermaid and their gills was on either side of the necks, just like on all the mermaids. None was sure whether they could become Alpha, Beta or Omega or maybe something entirely different until their thirteenth birthday, when werecats as well as werewolves all apparently matured into their second and more prominent sex. 

  
  


Soonyoung had an aquamarine colored tail with white, shimmering marks that reminded the parents of stars so they had nicknamed him Hoshi, which meant star in yet another upper worlder language known as japanese. His twin, Wonwoo, had inherited their mother’s red tail but unlike his twin he actually had webbing on his feline ears as well as scales scattered at each end of his eyes. Even if had only been a few days, one could already tell that Hoshi was the more livelier of the two whereas Wonwoo could nap away all day if given the chance. 

  
  


I had taken an interest in learning about the babies maturing, Yongsun more than happy to answer my questions and I found myself amazed at what I had learned. Like all werecat babies the babes were born blind and deaf, after around two weeks they would gain both but only actually respond to either after an additional week. Like mermaid babies, they were already active by crawling around, albeit unsteady, but apparently around after three weeks most babies would begin to walk. Their claws were out at all times, their poor cheeks nicked by them and nicked us too, unable to retract them until they were a few weeks older. 

  
  


Apparently normal human babies weren’t like this, developing at a much slower rate according to Moonbyul, though neither of the three in charge of the medical aspects was sure that the babies would develop exactly like werecats babes either so they took it as it came and wrote it down in a journal to keep it in the records seeing as in the rate Jimin and Roseanne were intimate no one would be surprised if they announced they awaited a child of their own. 

  
  


“Lalisa.” I looked up from where I was cooing over Wonwoo, who actually was awake and his unfocused eyes seeming to actually focus on me though I knew it was probably because I gently stroked his face or left kisses on it. A lot of us had offered to help out the new parents, me even more so since I lived with them and while I was currently looking after Wonwoo, Moonbyul with the company of her mate Shownu had taken Hoshi for a stroll so that the new parents could catch up on some much needed sleep and rest. 

“Your highness.” I greeted, smiling at the man who walked over to me and I had never seen him smile as big as he did as he gazed down at the babe, both dimples out on display and golden eyes glimmering. “He’s precious, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, all children are.” He laughed a little as the tiny baby followed the king’s retreating finger that had stroked his cheek. The baby whined, the only warning we got before it began to wail. “O-Oh, euhm...” I snorted, amused at how out of his wits he looked. 

“Hey, I got you, precious.” I cooed, rocking him in my arms and hummed a lullaby once I had made sure he was against my chest, the rocking adding with the hums he felt from my chest, my calm heart, made him calm. It took a minute or two before the wailing stopped, exchanged for soft snores and I rocked him until I was sure he wouldn’t wake up. “There we go.” 

“You’re good with him.” The king observed.

“I am.” I agreed, laughing when he rolled his eyes at me. “But thanks, your highness.” 

“About that, you know you can call me Namjoon right?” 

“I do, but I like calling you highness because you’re you.” I shrugged softly, careful as to not jostle the sleeping baby. 

“... Thank you.” I didn’t ask why he did it or if he got what I meant, I had a feeling why he did it and at his careful smile I knew I was right. “We haven’t had a proper chance to talk about your living arrangements here at our pride but I want you to know you’re welcome to stay and that if you want, there’s a few empty rooms in the main house. If you’d like, you could have one of the rooms.” Main house, his house, a room with an actual bed… 

“But… Would you really be fine with that? I wouldn’t want to intrude or anything, your highness.” 

“You wouldn’t intrude, Shownu and Moonbyul lives in it too as well as Yoongi and Jungkook. One more wouldn’t hurt.” He bowed then, deeply and it gave me a freaking heart attack as no king had ever bowed to me and I knew from having asked Minhyuk about it that bowing deeply was a great sign of respect in the korean culture. “I am sorry it took so long but they didn’t dare to risk what a strangers scent could do to my instincts as I wasn’t aware of your and Roseanne’s arrival before that night. I also knew you were uncomfortable by my presence so I waited for you to come to me, to let me know it was okay to speak to you.” 

“N-no, it’s okay, I get it.” He stood straight again, looking a bit worried still and I swallowed, not liking the look on his face and wanted to make amends. “I… I am not scared of you… I know it sounds weird but… Trust me, it means you’re fine in my eyes… I’m sorry for that evening but I am getting better… I swear.” I winced, knowing how stilted and awkward it sounded but I didn’t want to exactly blurt out everything either so it was the best I could do. Namjoon got quiet, eyes searching for something then his shoulders relaxed. 

“I’m… I’m glad to hear it, truly.” I returned his smile.

“So, about that room, do I get a marvelous view of the forest, your highness?” I asked with a bit of cheekiness, trying my luck and when he let out a breathy laughter I preened at it. 

“Of course, only the best for you.” He played a long.

“I would expect no less.” I copied the tone of Jennie’s mother, she was a lot of things but she was perfect at portraying arrogance and I was very good at imitating her. We began to laugh after exchanging a look.

“G’morning.” Yongsun came out through the front door, yawning yet instinctively reaching for Wonwoo and I gave him to her. “Where’s Hoshi?” She nuzzled the babe who let out small sounds but curled into her neck. 

“Moonbyul and Shownu took him on a walk.” I explained, feeling bubbly from the laughing. Yongsun seemed to finally take notice of Namjoon once her babies were accounted for. 

“Hi, did you need Wonho for anything?” She asked, just as Wonho came up behind her and put his head on her head, looking half-asleep. 

“No, I wanted to talk with Lalisa.” He looked at me then. “My offer stands, whenever you’re ready you know where to go.” I got up, holding out my hand which he copied but he seemed confused when I grasped his forearm and gave it a firm shake. 

“It’s how we shake hands underwater, we usually have webbings between our fingers so we can’t shake or hold hands like you upper worlders do.” Yongsun explained for me, making the king let out a sound of understanding and returned the shake. 

“Good day.” He nodded to all of us, stroking Wonwoo’s cheek one last time before he walked away. 

“You okay?” Yongsun asked, my mind was still reeling from the fact he had returned the playful sass and his touch on me wasn’t unpleasant nor did I feel the need to rub the ghost of his touch off. No, it was warm and gentle and I smiled because of it once Yongsun asked.

“Yeah, I am.”

  
  


👌

  
  
  
  
  


I took him up on his offer eventually, I had trouble sleeping the first nights as I wasn’t used to things being so quiet nor to sleep so softly again. Thought old habits die hard, every night before I went to bed I looked my dorm using the sea spell charm and every time I had done it I realized what I did. I decided to work on it, going to bed every night and saw how long it took me until I couldn’t bear it anymore and do the spell. After the fourth night it got easier, actually managing to fall asleep for an hour or two before I woke up and did it. 

  
  


It had been a bit awkward on my part getting used to having to meet other faces than Yongsun and Wonho in the mornings but soon enough we had gotten accustomed to our morning routines. Though I kept an eye on someone in particular, shrugging it off as me being used to observing him to make sure that he was in fact real. He drank his coffee black, having two mugs of it before he talked to anyone, then he would drink juice and  eat toast for breakfast. He liked to read a book while he drank his two mugs of coffee but as he had caught me looking, he had begun to put down his book and engaged in talking with me. I had been pleasantly surprised at it, always having being a chirpy morning person so it was nice to have someone to talk to. 

  
  


Sometimes he spoke of things I couldn’t really understand but I tried which seemed enough, sometimes he would ask me about life in the sea. It was nice for a change, being the one with knowledge and being able teach someone things rather than the one always with the questions or being talked down to as had been the case as a royal guard. It had become our morning ritual, he would get a mug of coffee while I got a mug of hot chocolate then we would exchange asking questions. The more I began to see him as a person rather than king, the more comfortable I got with joking with him and my walls began to get lower and lower, letting me actual see him.

  
  


While we didn’t necessarily seek each other out or go out of our way to meet, when we did end up meeting we usually greeted each other - me calling him highness becoming more of a fond tease as he would usually roll his eyes when I did and insisted on calling me miss Manoban, making me feel like an old lady which he only returned that I did too. I might have or I might not have stuck my tongue at his retreating back, much to the amusement of the others seeing as he turned around to caught it and I had ran away as far as my legs could take as I heard him try to scold me but ended up laughing. 

  
  
  


“I’m sorry!” Which is why, with how comfortable we had become one another I was surprised to hear him apologize. I opened my eyes, looking over at the king who averted his eyes, cheeks a bit pink making me furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

“What for, your highness?” I asked, shifting so I was leaning on my elbows in order to properly look at him. 

  
  


Roseanne and Yongsun had left the lake already, Yongsun to tend to her babies while Roseanne had volunteered to help out with the cooking for today’s dinner under Kihyun’s tutelage. The short male had soft spot for her and Changkyun, his patience never seeming to run out and he always enjoyed Roseanne´s questions, Minhyuk had whispered that Kihyun just enjoyed feeling like he was smart for once - which of course the motherly feline had overheard and proceeded to put cucumber in all of Minhyuk’s meals until he begged for forgiveness. 

  
  


“Well… You’re… Euhm... ” He had difficulty finding the words but mage a vague gesture at my body. I looked down, not seeing anything weird by it. 

“I am?” I prodded. 

“Well… Half-naked and clearly bathing and relaxing and I didn’t want to intrude...”

“... You’re so weird...” He looked at me then as I began to laugh, shaking my head at the king who could one minute be better than any scholars I had the displeasure of meeting under the sea but the next be a naive dummy. “If you had seen my human form naked or if I didn’t wear my seashell bra, then yes, it’d been embarrassing but when I’m like this, it’s as if I’m wearing clothes, you know?” I explained. 

“Y-Yeah, you’re right.” He rubbed the back of his neck while my eyes looked at the book he was holding.

“What kind of book is that? It’s not one of your books where they tell you about how the woods look when you can look at them for yourself right?” He let out a breathless laughter, my favorite one of his because even if it didn’t sound like much his smile spoke volumes. 

“No, I’ve learned my lesson.” He walked up to where I was resting, tall enough so that he was at eye-level volume with me and I turned on my stomach as he opened the book, revealing a pen which was resting inside and the pages were littered with neat scribbles. 

  
  


My arms were crossed under my chest, allowing me to lean over slightly as I looked at the words upside down before I gave up as I, as well as Roseanne, had yet to learn how to read korean. Instead I looked at the king as he told me about the supplies they had, what had been used to build or used for. His words washed over me, tidbits registering in the back of my head as my foremind was much more interested in his feline ears. The tips weren’t pointy, more round like most of the others but longer, reflecting how lanky he was.

  
  


I liked that he was tall, because even if he was tall he didn’t look down at others with disdain like my old king had. His lips were soft and plump looking, inviting my mind supplied which had my cheeks coloring as it was highly inappropriate to have those thoughts about him. I especially liked his dimples, adding to his charm and- shit.

  
  


Namjoon stopped talking as he looked up from the book and noticed our faces were much closer than we had initially expected, our noses only a little bit apart and I looked right into his golden eyes. His voice, while faint, had filtered through my ears, making me catch onto one word which I latched onto because the thoughts I had about this man, right now, this close, was not some I would like to linger on because I might do something stupid. Like kiss- OKAY! DISTRACTION MANEUVER!

 

“Toiletries?” I asked, hoping he would take the bait. He blinked, seemingly coming out of a daze and took a few steps backwards which made me relieved just as much as I loathed the distance.

“Uh, yeah.” He cleared his throat. “We’re beginning to run low, so need to make a trip into town to fill up our supplies off of it and other things. There will also be free time, where you can do whatever you want. We usually go in pair of two for safety reasons, we always need to be on the lookout for hunters.” I had heard about the hunters, how most of the hunter clans were extreme and simply wanted to annihilate all supernaturals. I knew they were dangerous and to always look out for jewelry and tattoos with the hunter symbol. But that wasn’t what made me perk up, forgetting to keep distance and nearly falling over in my haste of getting close. Namjoon caught my failing arms, letting my put my hands on his shoulders and he was close enough to make me dizzy but my mind kept repeating the magical word. 

“Town? You go into a human town to get supplies? What’s the name of the town?” 

“Uh, it’s called Violet Valley and if we go through a hidden path in the mountains we get into the forest on the south side of the valley where it is.” 

“Can I go!? Please!?” That name, it was the town where my mom had gone to if that human were to have been trusted and I needed to get there and try to find her. 

“O-Of course but you should go with someone who know-”

“Can’t I go with you?” I asked before he could even finish his sentence, blushing as I realized how eager and shameless I sounded. “I-I mean… It would be an honor if I could accompany you to town, your highness… That is… If you’d like that? I could be your bodyguard if you’d like?” I was on all kinds of uncharted territory right now but tried to amend it by adding the last thing. 

“Thank you, I have no doubt in your capabilities but I will have to reject your offer.” He smiled as I deflated, his rejection hurting a lot more than I would have ever predicted. 

“I… I understand, sorry, your highness.” I released him as I sat back properly on the rock.

“What’s- Wait, no, miss Manoban!” I didn’t look at him but I inclined my head towards him to show him I was listening. “I just meant… I mean… I don’t want you to accompany me as a bodyguard… but rather... Yoongi was right, I suck at this.” I furrowed my eyebrows, looking at him now to see him blush and rub at his neck. 

“Suck at what?” He sighed, holding out his right hand towards me and I hesitantly put mine on his only for him to envelope it with his other. “Your highness?”

“Lalisa.” I shivered as he called me by my name rather than my last name. “Would you...” I held my breath. “Like to accompany me to the town, as a friend?” I was happy he had asked me but somehow, I felt a bit sad still as I had hoped for… Something that couldn’t and should not happen, he was a king and I was but a guard with dancing in my heart. Besides, seeing Jimin and Roseanne together I also knew that he hadn’t imprinted on me or he would’ve said something by now or done something to prove it. So, I knew I had to settle for being friends which was enough. Besides, I had to focus, he had distracted me far enough for my goal of going up to the surface and now I had the perfect opportunity to do what I had planned to do from the beginning. 

“Yeah, I’d like that, a lot...” He looked at me then, unsure almost. “Really, just don’t bring a book on how to sightsee.” I teased, giggling as he let out a breathless laugh. 

“I think I can manage that.” His eyes twinkling and I thought to myself, that courting or not, finding my mom or not, I would enjoy this outing as much as I could.

 

 

👌


End file.
